NOVEL WEB Chapter 218: Chapter 218 : "Death Star"
Death Star


The Death Star is a massive space station armed with a planet-destroying superlaser powered by kyber crystals.
Officially designated as the DS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station, also known as the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station, it was initially designed by the Geonosians before the Galactic Republic, and later the Galactic Empire, assumed control of the project. However, the schematics for the battle station were stolen by the Rebel Alliance during the events on Scarif, leading to the Death Star's eventual destruction at the Battle of Yavin.
Before its demise, the Death Star unleashed its superlaser on several critical targets, including the planet Alderaan, Jedha City, and the Imperial Archives on Scarif.
The name "Death Star" was coined by scientists involved in the project, notably Galen Walton Erso. The term was later adopted Empire-wide, with Major Lio Partagaz of the Imperial Security Bureau deeming it "an apt phrase."
Following the destruction of the first Death Star, the Empire constructed a second and final version, known as the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station. It was designed to be more powerful than the original. During the Battle of Endor, the station's energy shield was destroyed, and the Rebels exploited the unfinished superstructure to launch an attack, ultimately destroying the weapon just as they had done with its predecessor.
The Death Star: Imperial Mobile Battle Station
The Death Star, officially known as the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station, was a colossal battle station constructed by the Galactic Empire. In its early planning stages, the project was referred to simply as the "Ultimate Weapon", and in Legends continuity, it was also known as the "Great Weapon". Its primary purpose was to serve as a symbol of the Empire's absolute power—an instrument of domination through fear.
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Superlaser and Power Source
The Death Star was equipped with a kyber crystal-powered superlaser capable of destroying an entire planet with a single shot. This superweapon was the most devastating armament in the galaxy, drawing its energy from a hypermatter reactor—a highly advanced and volatile system capable of generating extraordinary power.
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Size and Internal Structure
The station's diameter, according to various sources:
Canon (post-Rogue One): ~160 kilometers
Legends: ~120 kilometers
Most of the Death Star's internal space was dedicated to supporting its core systems, particularly the main reactor and superlaser. At the station's heart was the massive hypermatter reactor, where star-scale energy reactions took place. Fuel for this reactor was drawn from hypermatter containers located around the central core.
The Death Star was capable of autonomous movement through space using a powerful ion engine array that converted energy from the reactor into thrust. For interstellar travel, it was equipped with a Class 4 hyperdrive system, consisting of 123 hyperdrive generators connected to a unified navigation matrix, allowing it to make jumps through hyperspace.
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Gravity and Artificial Environment
Due to its massive size and immense energy output, the Death Star maintained a stable artificial gravity field throughout its interior. Gravity and atmospheric conditions were sustained by a vast network of gravity arrays and environmental regulators distributed across each sector.
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Structure and Organization
The Death Star was divided into 24 structural sectors, with 12 sectors per hemisphere.
Each sector was overseen by a dedicated command bridge and maintained its own operational divisions. Functional areas were categorized into specialized divisions, including:
General Division
Command Division
Military Division
Security Division
Service Division
Technical Division
A massive equatorial trench divided the station into two hemispheres. In Legends, this trench was said to stretch 376 kilometers in length, though this measurement is not specified in the official canon. Along this trench were located the central command hub, primary landing platforms, tractor beam systems, and major sensor arrays.
Two additional trenches extended from the equator toward the north and south poles, each housing various technical and logistical systems.
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Life Aboard the Death Star
Given the long-term nature of Death Star operations, the station was outfitted with extensive life-supporting facilities, including parks, shopping centers, recreational areas, and internal transportation systems. These amenities were designed to maintain morale and operational efficiency among Imperial personnel.
The active crew complement was enormous, estimated at over 200 million personnel, including:
Imperial Navy crew
Ground forces
Stormtroopers
Technical and administrative staff
Support droids and automated units
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Command and Armament
Military operations aboard the Death Star were managed through a centralized command structure led by:
Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin (Supreme Commander)
Admiral Conan Motti
General Cassio Tagge
The Death Star's arsenal included:
768 turbolaser batteries
Tractor beam projectors
Point-defense laser turrets
Fighter bays housing hundreds of TIE Fighters and other combat vehicles
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The Gothic Golden Palace, Terra Aeterna – Emperor's Throne Room
Amidst the grandeur of towering pillars and golden archways at the heart of Terra Aeterna, Kenthelion—the Emperor of Mankind—sat upright upon his golden throne. His gaze was sharp, cold, and resolute, fixed upon the massive adamantium doors that slowly groaned open, accompanied by the distinctive hiss of servo-hydraulics.
Flanking the entrance, Space Marines in ceremonial armor stood at attention, parting to allow a single figure through—a tall, elderly man clad in the dignified uniform of the Galactic Imperium. His hair was perfectly silvered, his eyes gleaming with a blend of ruthless intelligence and unshakable ambition.
Wilhuff Tarkin
(bowing deeply)
"Your Majesty. Governor Wilhuff Tarkin reporting as ordered."
Kenthelion studied him for a moment, his voice resonating with a deep and commanding weight that echoed across the throne hall.
Kenthelion
"Wilhuff Tarkin... you've heard the reports, I presume. One of our major colonies—Vultaria Magna IX—was attacked by xenos. Casualties in the hundreds of millions."
He paused, every word deliberate and calculated.
Kenthelion
"This time, I'm appointing you personally. You and your fleet of Star Destroyers will lead the retaliation. Not a counterattack… retaliation."
Kenthelion rose from his throne, stepping forward with purpose.
Kenthelion
"Activate the Divine Will weapon—Death Star. Let the galaxy tremble beneath the shadow of humanity's wrath."
Wilhuff Tarkin
(straightening with conviction)
"Your command will be carried out, my Emperor."
Without another word, Governor Tarkin turned and exited with silent authority. He returned immediately to high orbit, where the Death Star—an enormous silver sphere of planetary annihilation—awaited him, surrounded by a tight formation of Star Destroyers standing sentinel like sacred knights guarding a divine relic.
Above the skies of Terra, the metallic titan began to shimmer faintly, its surface plating locking into place, its central reactor humming to life. Within the command bridge, a flurry of coordinated activity began to unfold.
Wilhuff Tarkin
"Prepare firing systems. Calculate hyperspace vectors through the Mass Relay. Begin initializing target coordinates."
The Death Star—perhaps not as intricate as the Phalanx of Warhammer legend—but in this moment of vengeance, it was enough. More than enough.
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High Orbit of Zaraphari Prime – New Zaraphari Empire Territory
The skies above Zaraphari, once calm and serene, were shattered in an instant.
First came the shadows—massive, ominous, gliding across the atmosphere. One by one, colossal starships emerged from hyperspace, forming an unbroken wall of steel and fire. The Celestial Empire's fleet had arrived. Star Destroyers filled the heavens, dwarfing the horizon. And behind them loomed a shining metallic sphere of unimaginable size—the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station.
The name etched in the annals of history: Death Star.
From the main command viewport of the Death Star, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin stood motionless, clad in the unmistakable gray uniform of the Imperial High Command. His posture was immaculate, his expression calm, cold, and utterly controlled. No hesitation. No doubt.
Wilhuff Tarkin:
"Fire the main weapon as soon as the system is ready."
A nearby officer bowed respectfully, voice sharp and disciplined.
Officer:
"Understood, Governor Tarkin. Targeting system locked. Capacitors fully charged. Target: primary surface of Zaraphari Prime."
The air grew dense, like the universe itself holding its breath.
Before the people of Zaraphari could even react, the Death Star—shining like a second moon—hovered menacingly over the planet, escorted by warships like a divine weapon summoned by judgment.
Wilhuff Tarkin:
"Commence firing."
At once, the Death Star's core began to glow. Six narrow green beams converged into a single devastating stream—a straight line of annihilation aimed at the planet's heart.
WWWWUUUUUUUUMMMMMM…
The main reactor roared, a deep mechanical scream that echoed like an ancient machine god awakening from slumber. The focused energy surged outward—
FWWOOOOSH—TZZZZAAAHHH!
A monstrous green beam shot downward, piercing through Zaraphari's atmosphere. Oceans boiled away. Continents fractured. The crust shattered like glass beneath a divine hammer.
KRRRRAAAKKKK—KABOOOOOM!!!
The laser cut through the planet's core. A tremor echoed through orbit—a low, drawn-out groan as if the world itself cried out in agony. Cracks spiderwebbed across the planet's surface, and then—
One final, blinding explosion.
Zaraphari Prime, jewel of the New Zaraphari Empire, was no more. In a heartbeat, a capital world, the heart of alien civilization, vanished into a cloud of cosmic dust.
Green light overwhelmed every broadcast screen across the galaxy. The silent screams of billions lingered in the glow of destruction. The sight—majestic, terrifying, absolute—was streamed live to every system of the Celestial Empire, from fringe colonies to the core worlds.
"Detonation confirmed."
The planet turned red—the color of ruin, of blood, of regret far too late to matter. Its surface quaked violently, the sky caught fire, and then—with a cataclysmic thunderclap—it burst like a fragile balloon in silent vacuum.
Nothing remained.
No throne. No generals. No fleets. No survivors. Just an empty void where once stood a world of billions.
But this... was only the beginning.
From within the dust cloud, the Death Star locked on to its next target: the New Zaraphari Empire's primary military fortress—a heavily defended planet laced with orbital cannons and multi-tiered energy shields.
None of it mattered.
The second shot fired—blinding, instant, absolute. The "strongest shield in the eastern galaxy sector" collapsed in mere seconds, melting like wax beneath the sun.
The second explosion unfolded.
That fortress world, the last military bastion of Zaraphari strength, disintegrated. Layer by layer, its geological structure detonated from within. The final remnants of its atmosphere were torn apart by the pressure of the Death Star's wrath.
On the Death Star's bridge, Tarkin stood in silence. His gaze never wavered as he observed the obliteration—like a man watching a sunrise.
Then, a holographic transmission flickered to life. At its center, the imposing figure of Emperor Kenthelion appeared. Dressed in imperial black robes, adorned with the twin-headed eagle and the blazing sunset emblem of his divine empire, he spoke with unwavering command.
Kenthelion:
"Governor Wilhuff Tarkin. Do not leave a single planet of the New Zaraphari Empire standing. Erase them from the star charts. Wipe them from history."
Wilhuff Tarkin:
"It will be done, Great Emperor."
Kenthelion's order wasn't a military maneuver—it was total annihilation. A cross-galactic genocide sanctioned by the divine will of the Celestial Imperium.
What awaited the Zaraphari people was no longer war—it was myth. It was the Sword of Damocles incarnate. In ancient human myth, Damocles represented ever-looming dread, invisible danger, and inescapable divine judgment.
Now, for the aliens of Zaraphari, Damocles had taken the form of a silver sphere the size of a moon, armed with a death beam that could not be stopped.
One by one, their worlds were destroyed.
One by one, their colonies were cleansed.
Billions upon billions were reduced to dust—forgotten in the silence of deep space.
Alien captains who dared to resist found their ships torn apart by Star Destroyers that flanked the Death Star in flawless formation. The enemy fleets turned to drifting wreckage. Their bodies floated among the stars, given no eulogy, no burial.
Kenthelion:
"I rather enjoy this method. Reducing all organic and inorganic matter to dust… is not a war crime. I prefer to call it… efficiency."
Efficiency.
That was the key word behind the entire campaign.
Their mission was never just about vengeance—it was galactic cleansing. A reconstruction of history in pursuit of a future led by those who had suffered most: the peoples of Europe and the Pacific.
Vultaria Magna IX remained a wound that would never heal. It was there that the European and Pacific populations were obliterated—men, women, children, all alike. But from the ashes of that tragedy, something ancient awakened. Their bloodlines, long obscured by centuries of decline and diaspora, now burned with righteous fury.
"The Imperial Eagle. The Lion from the land where the sun never set. The Rooster of Gaul."
Old symbols were revived.
New emblems were forged.
And from the wreckage of loss, a singular vow rose like a battle cry:
Humanity would never be a victim again.
With a blazing spirit, echoing the war songs of old and bearing the courage of their ancestors, thousands of people of European descent rose up and enlisted under the banner of the Empire. It was as if the spirits of their forefathers—knights, warlords, and emperors of old—had descended from Valhalla and the heavenly halls of Rome to guide their hands in battle.
Under the flag of the Celestial Imperium, old legacies were reborn in new forms. Banners adorned with the double-headed eagle, winged lions, and the proud Gallic rooster fluttered from every barrack and military fortress. They became symbols of unity—of a newly reforged human identity.
> (Note: Within the extreme military doctrine enforced by the ironclad "Marseillaise Decree," public breastfeeding and all acts of bodily exposure in combat zones were strictly forbidden—seen as the ultimate expression of total emotional and physical control. Discipline was non-negotiable.)
"Water our soil with xenos blood!"
"God bless the Emperor! Victory belongs to mankind! For Charlemagne!"
"Long live the Emperor! Long live humanity! For the Imperium! For the blood of our ancestors!"
These chants rang out from every training academy, military outpost, and ceremonial parade ground. A rising wave of human identity—fierce, fervent, unstoppable—had begun.
Before long, the newly expanded Astra Militarum Legions were deployed across the galaxy's most volatile and shadowed sectors. In the silent reaches between stars and within the swirling fogs of nebulae, they advanced—humanity's final shield.
For the future.
For vengeance.
For the survival of the species.